The Once-Boring Giants Now Have a Drama Problem

Tuesday was Thursday for the Giants, who practiced on a harried and condensed schedule that only added to the sense of upheaval the team has felt during its 1-4 start to the season. But when things are going as badly as they are for the Giants, getting back on the field and hitting people ahead of a Thursday night game against Philadelphia might feel better than a long week of self-reflection.

“This is probably the first time I’ve ever not been upset about the turnaround,” said Odell Beckham Jr., the team’s lightning-rod wide receiver. “Coming off a loss like that, you just want to get back out there.”

It is not usually a good sign when a rap star, Lil Wayne, becomes embroiled in a controversy involving the team’s star quarterback and wide receiver. But that is where the Giants are. At least they could laugh about it, blasting Lil Wayne’s music at practice earlier in the week in an effort to introduce some levity into a tense time in the locker room.

But after a 63-yard field goal beat the Giants on Sunday in Carolina; and after the team finally gave up on its former first-round pick Ereck Flowers by releasing him; and after comments by Beckham in an ESPN interview reportedly made Coach Pat Shurmur “livid” — after all this, the Giants sounded unusually grateful to return to the field and prepare for the Eagles.

For a franchise that has long prided itself on being able to float above distractions — a contrast with the drama-magnets who share their stadium, the Jets — the Giants are enduring a second straight year in which locker-room disharmony has spilled into the open.

Last year, it was cornerback Eli Apple’s attitude and effort that provoked a public reprimand from his teammate Landon Collins, and ultimately led to Apple’s suspension for the season finale. By then, the team was long removed from playoff consideration and on its way to a 3-13 finish and an off-season housecleaning.

So, what now? Once again, Beckham found himself in the swirl of controversy late last week, when, in an ESPN interview that aired in two parts on Friday and Sunday, he answered questions about the Giants while seated next to Lil Wayne, a rapper who, like Beckham, hails from Louisiana. Speaking quietly, Beckham came off as critical of the team’s effort, the Giants’ play-calling, and the performance — and even the arm strength — of quarterback Eli Manning.

“Can he still throw it, yeah,” Beckham said of Manning. “But it’s been pretty safe and it’s been, you know, cool catching shallow and trying to take it to the house. But I’m, you know — I want to go over the top of somebody.”

After the interview aired, Beckham asked to address his teammates and clear the air.

“Everybody felt it; it was genuine,” wide receiver Sterling Shepard said of Beckham’s private comments. “Everybody appreciated him talking to the team. It was a great message. I think everybody responded when we played as well.”

But Beckham is not the only Giants player whose frustrations have boiled over in recent days. In fact, he had to play the cool head on the sideline on Sunday as Shepard punched the bench and tossed a garbage can after a Manning interception in the third quarter.

Shepard said on Tuesday that his outburst was not in direct response to the interception, but rather the result of four losses’ worth of disappointment.

“It was a lot of built-up frustration,” Shepard said. “I really wanted to win that game. I felt it kind of slipping away right there.”

Frustration of another sort finally prompted the Giants to move on from Flowers, their former starting tackle, who was benched two weeks into his fourth season after being made the No. 9 overall pick in the 2015 draft. The team announced Monday that the team was seeking a trade for the struggling Flowers, 24, but by Tuesday afternoon the Giants waived him after a trade failed to materialize.

The move leaves safety Landon Collins as the only player left on the roster from the Giants’ 2015 draft class.

Manning, now in his 15th season, has done his best to defuse the perception of locker-room strife with humor. When asked about comments Beckham made on ESPN that seemed to imply he would not oppose a quarterback change, Manning said dryly, “I don’t watch Lil Wayne that much.”

He added, more seriously: “I’ve never had a receiver that doesn’t want that ball more. That’s part of handling that. When you get a guy with social media and everything now, the ability you have to reach a crowd and express your opinions about everything on a whim, it can cause more drama. That’s just the world we’re living in.”

The Giants gave Beckham a $95 million contract extension in August, knowing that he is not one to shy from an open microphone. He is currently starring in his own documentary series, “I Am More: OBJ,” produced by the LeBron James venture Uninterrupted, which has been following Beckham around throughout the 2018 season.

Beckham reportedly did not go through the Giants to set up the ESPN interview, and, according to Fox’s Jay Glazer, Shurmur was not pleased that it took place. He said he disagreed with Beckham’s characterization of the team as needing more “heart,” and told players that they could ask Beckham for clarification.

“I’m going to answer all the drama questions right now,” Shurmur said after Sunday’s loss. “I addressed it with Odell. I addressed it with our team.

“I’m not going to give the public a pound of flesh on this,” he added. “The locker room took care of it. That’s all I’m saying on it. Finito. Done. Let’s talk football, not drama.”

Beckham said after Sunday’s game that he has never felt closer to his teammates, suggesting that his pregame address in the locker room had served as a tonic. On Tuesday, he said he believed his teammates understood his point of view.

“Nobody in here likes to lose,” Beckham said. “We’re all tired of losing, we want to change that culture, atmosphere, whatever it is, because this is a place that has a lot of pride.”

They were straining positives out of the closest loss of the season and the best offensive performance in more than two years.

“I think that was a building point,” Beckham said. “I remember being in the huddle multiple times being like, ‘This is the game that’s going to determine how we’re going to be.’ What’s our character, what’s this team’s identity? That fight, that grit, determination — that’s who this team is.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B11 of the New York edition with the headline: The Once-Boring Giants Have a Drama Problem. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe